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Locomotion Abilities to Exploit Beneficial Resources and Envi- 25 Ronments

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Locomotion Abilities to Exploit Beneficial Resources and Envi- 25 Ronments 1 L AU8 2 Locomotion abilities to exploit beneficial resources and envi- 25 ronments. Some eventually became able to seek 26 3 Casey Gährs and Andrés Vidal-Gadea new resources when local supplies became 27 AU1 4 School of Biological Sciences exhausted, transporting themselves to new 28 AU2 5 Illinois State University, Normal, IL, USA environments. 29 Locomotion refers to an organism’s ability to 30 transport itself from one place to another. This is a 31 6 Synonyms task fraught with uncertainty and danger. Trading 32 a known environment for an opportunity to find a 33 7 Animal mobility; Animal movement; Animal better one is risky at best. Many animals are par- 34 8 progression ticularly vulnerable during locomotion. Their 35 available resources and attention become 36 repurposed to the completion of this goal, making 37 9 Definition them particularly vulnerable to energy depletion 38 and predation. Therefore, locomotion is a danger- 39 10 Locomotion refers to an organism’s ability to ous behavior not undertaken lightly. As such, it is 40 11 translate itself from one place to another. This often goal-oriented and used to increase fitness 41 12 can be accomplished by active and passive (e.g., securing nourishment, avoiding death/pre- 42 13 means. It spans from the use of simple molecular dation, reproduction). Because of the associated 43 14 machines to complex multi-organ systems acting risks, many animals locomote in short bouts when 44 15 in concert. approaching potentially dangerous environments. 45 This allows them to sample their environment for 46 dangers. The same animals, however, increase 47 16 Introduction their bout durations when traveling back toward 48 safety. 49 17 All organisms share a common ancestry along The evolutionary race for survival resulted in 50 18 with a set of enduring biological directives the production of highly diverse and complex 51 19 reflecting their relatedness. Chief among these is sensory systems to probe environments and loco- 52 20 the drive to persist by temporarily overcoming motor systems to convey animals to their destina- 53 21 overwhelming physical and energetic obstacles. tions quickly and safely. How animals accomplish 54 22 Organisms large and small, simple and complex, locomotion, and translate themselves from one 55 23 labor to survive long enough to produce viable place to another, depends on factors such as their 56 24 offspring. To accomplish this, they evolved # Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2018 J. Vonk, T. K. Shackelford (eds.), Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_1450-1 2 Locomotion 57 evolutionary history, the physics of their environ- challenges and of its inheritance passed down 105 58 ment, and the biological drive being satisfied. through evolution. We will next look at some of 106 59 Many animals living near the interface of dis- the challenges this behavior evolved to surmount 107 60 tinct physical environments (e.g., land and water) before looking within organisms at its mechanics. 108 61 evolved the ability to exploit multiple environ- 62 ments (e.g., one for sustenance and another for 63 locomotion). For example, many insects and birds Goals of Animal Locomotion 109 64 walk when foraging but switch to flight when 65 traveling between feeding sites as a more energet- Why do animals move? As mentioned above, one 110 66 ically efficient form of locomotion. Crayfish and of the primary drives common to all life forms is 111 67 young lobsters walk on the bottom of springs and the directive to survive to reproduce. Thus, loco- 112 68 oceans but will swim away from predators using motion can be understood as an animal’s attempt 113 69 their powerful tails. Each distinct type of locomo- to improve the odds of this outcome. Some over- 114 70 tion is made possible by dramatic feats of special- arching goals driving locomotion include (i) 115 71 ization in the animals’ nervous system, skeleton, avoiding death (self-preservation), (ii) finding 116 72 and musculature. While there are many examples mates (for sexually reproductive animals), and 117 73 of transition between environments over evolu- (iii) ensuring the survival of offspring. These are 118 74 tionary time, most animals are specialized for certainly not all the reasons why animals move. 119 75 locomotion through one physical niche through- Additionally, some of these goals (e.g., self- 120 76 out their lives. Those capable of locomotion preservation) include unique locomotor goals 121 77 through multiple environments must reconfigure within them. For example, self-preservation 122 78 their motor outputs to match the properties of each includes escaping predators but also energy pro- 123 79 environment. curement. We will discuss some of these goals, as 124 80 When studying simple processes, it is often the (often competing) demands they place on ani- 125 81 possible to divide them into their components mals have driven the evolution of the distinct 126 82 and to dissect and understand the role of each types of locomotion we appreciate in the natural 127 83 part independent of the whole. Often, single world. 128 84 chains of cause-and-effect hierarchies make easy 85 work of understanding the process by sequentially Self-Preservation 129 86 dealing with each aspect of the whole. Animal Many distinct locomotor activities have the goal 130 87 locomotion defies this type of approach. Locomo- of maintaining an organism’s viability. The exact 131 88 tion is not the final output of a chain of events; locomotor behaviors depend on the animal, but 132 89 rather, it emerges from the tightly concerted inter- minimally they involve (a) procuring and 133 90 action of numerous organismal systems ingesting other organisms, (b) avoiding ingestion 134 91 (Alexander 2003). Thus, our compartmentalized by other organisms, and (c) avoiding environmen- 135 92 approach to its study is more a reflection of our tal risks (e.g., temperature extremes). Each of 136 93 own limitations than a characteristic of the process these tasks presents unique challenges that are 137 94 we will now discuss. often in conflict with one another. For example, 138 95 Thus, while the following sections attempt to searching for food often places animals at 139 96 simplify our task by dealing with intuitive increased risk of predation. 140 97 (dissectible) aspects of animal locomotion, the Animals are unable to manufacture their own 141 98 reader should remain aware that these separations complex organic compounds for nutritional pur- 142 99 are artificial and for our benefit. Furthermore, poses (i.e., they are heterotrophic). Instead, they 143 100 animal locomotion is not the product of a machine must obtain their nutrients by ingesting other 144 101 optimized for the performance of a task, but rather organisms in their environment. Some animals, 145 102 the survivable output of the cumulative history of such as sponges, corals, and tunicates, are sessile 146 103 a species. As such, it can only be fully understood and able to capture sufficient nutrients as they 147 104 in the context of an animal’s life history move pass them. Even here, most of these animals 148 Locomotion 3 149 have short motile stages where their larvae seek Therefore, many escape behaviors rely on a 195 150 promising environments before becoming sessile. few, fast (<0.3 ms), electrical synapses. 196 151 Large, complex animals are unable to reliably (c) Using large diameter nerve fibers and 197 152 capture sufficient resources without investing myelination to maximize the impulse velocity. 198 153 energy to seek them out regularly. 154 Each vital locomotor activity often requires There are many examples of escape behaviors 199 155 distinct neural specializations. Finding food making use of these neural optimizations. The 200 156 (or mates) requires extreme feats of sensory detec- Mauthner cell in fish and amphibians is a large 201 157 tion involving computationally expensive special- neuron that makes extensive use of electrical syn- 202 158 ized search strategies. For example, moths use a apses to produce fast escape responses. Similarly, 203 159 strategy called casting when following phero- large diameter neurons and/or electrical synapses 204 160 mone plumes in search of mates. Similarly, dogs also mediate the tail-flip escape response in cray- 205 161 tracking scents employ active sensing, sampling fish, escape jet propulsion of squids, escape jumps 206 162 their environment at regular intervals. In both in fruit flies, and more. Similarly, myelination of 207 163 examples, sensory inputs are integrated over escape neurons in some copepod species allows 208 164 time to deduce the scent’s source. these animals to perform faster, energetically effi- 209 165 Locomotion during the search phase of mate or cient, escapes than they could perform otherwise. 210 166 food procurement needs to be slow enough to Animals that succeed in consuming (and avoid 211 167 allow the nervous system enough time to sample being consumed by) other organisms are still 212 168 the environment and resolve (often tenuous) gra- faced with the task of surviving changing envi- 213 169 dients. During this type of locomotion, sensory ronmental parameters. The magnitude of this task 214 170 processing can be the rate limiting factor. Increas- varies significantly across species. For animals 215 171 ing the organism’s investment in its sensory sys- unable to regulate their temperature (i.e., ecto- 216 172 tem can result in higher neural acuity, sampling therms), or those living in harsh environments 217 173 speed, and resolution. However, this also carries (e.g., deserts), the task might pose greater risk 218 174 heavy energetic costs, which animals must bal- than predation or starvation. Because many envi- 219 175 ance with their needs.
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